Governor Bullock Announces Montana's Unemployment Rate at 4.1%

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MONTANA – Governor Steve Bullock today announced that Montana’s unemployment rate remained level at 4.1% for the month of February. The U.S. unemployment rate also remained at 4.1%.

I'm excited and optimistic about our state's future as we head into the spring months," said Governor Bullock. "We are maintaining our fiscal strength, while working to build up our talented workforce and put more folks into good-paying jobs. This economic health sets us on the right track to continue investments in hard-working Montanans."

Both payroll and total employment levels posted insignificant changes the last month, with little changes in employment levels across most industries. There were also insignificant changes in both the labor force and unemployment rate estimates. In other words, little has changed in the Montana economy over the last month.

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) rose by 0.2% in February, with broad-based price increases across all goods except food. Over the last 12 months, the CPI-U has increased by 2.2%. The index for all items less food and energy, also called core inflation, increased 0.2% in February, with a change of 2.2% over the last year.

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** Unemployment figures are seasonally-adjusted. Seasonally-adjusted numbers remove the effects of events that follow a more or less regular month-to-month pattern each year. These adjustments make nonseasonal patterns easier to identify. The margin of error for the unemployment rate is plus or minus 0.5 percentage points at the 90 percent confidence level. All questions relating to the calculation of unemployment rates should be directed to the Montana Department of Labor and Industry's Research and Analysis Bureau at 1-800-541-3904.

The next Labor Situation Report for the month of March 2018 will be released on Friday, April 20, 2018.

****** INFORMATION AVAILABLE ON THE INTERNET ******

Visit our website at www.lmi.mt.gov for additional information and analysis, including industry employment levels, background on the unemployment rate, and wage rates by occupation. This month’s Economy at a Glance examines entrepreneurialism in Montana.

****** COUNTY UNEMPLOYMENT RATES ******

The unemployment rate and ranking for each of Montana’s 56 counties is provided below for your convenience. County unemployment rates and employment levels are not seasonally adjusted and should be compared to the unadjusted statewide unemployment rate of 5.0%.

Rank

County

Current

Unemployment

Rate

Change

over Year

Current

Employment

Job Change

from Last Year

1

McCone

1.9

-0.1

965

-42

2

Liberty

2.5

-1.3

927

1

3

Daniels

2.6

0.0

862

-22

4

Fallon

2.6

-0.6

1,628

-53

5

Gallatin

3.1

0.2

62,036

1,568

6

Dawson

3.3

-0.4

4,523

-84

6

Garfield

3.3

0.0

741

3

6

Sheridan

3.3

-0.1

1,768

-89

9

Chouteau

3.6

-0.2

2,369

19

9

Toole

3.6

0.5

1,979

-105

11

Powder River

3.7

1.1

952

-24

12

Wibaux

3.8

0.9

434

-35

13

Richland

3.9

-0.4

5,672

-71

14

Carter

4.0

1.1

652

-15

14

Hill

4.0

0.0

7,572

130

16

Beaverhead

4.1

0.1

4,788

21

17

Valley

4.3

0.1

3,864

-94

17

Yellowstone

4.3

0.4

77,247

-253

19

Lewis and Clark

4.4

0.3

33,102

-563

19

Treasure

4.4

0.0

326

-3

21

Sweet Grass

4.5

0.7

1,701

19

22

Missoula

4.6

0.3

59,500

147

23

Custer

4.7

0.7

5,807

-112

24

Cascade

4.8

0.7

35,970

-115

24

Madison

4.8

0.6

4,529

-101

24

Pondera

4.8

0.5

2,573

-95

24

Teton

4.8

-0.4

2,586

-68

28

Carbon

4.9

0.5

5,103

-39

28

Deer Lodge

4.9

0.8

4,779

10

28

Meagher

4.9

-0.1

896

21

31

Jefferson

5.1

-0.2

5,256

-94

31

Stillwater

5.1

0.5

4,582

14

33

Roosevelt

5.2

0.4

4,321

-3

34

Park

5.3

0.4

7,932

125

34

Silver Bow

5.3

0.4

16,061

20

36

Judith Basin

5.4

2.0

874

-16

37

Blaine

5.5

0.6

2,230

-8

37

Broadwater

5.5

-0.1

2,404

21

39

Prairie

5.6

0.8

453

-28

40

Lake

5.7

0.2

12,507

292

41

Petroleum

5.8

-1.0

259

0

42

Fergus

5.9

0.2

5,373

-100

42

Musselshell

5.9

0.9

2,171

24

42

Ravalli

5.9

0.0

18,672

302

45

Powell

6.2

0.7

2,631

-40

46

Flathead

6.6

-0.1

43,387

1,033

47

Wheatland

6.8

1.6

722

-12

48

Rosebud

6.9

1.2

3,683

-110

49

Golden Valley

7.1

0.8

351

-5

50

Phillips

7.3

1.0

1,765

-11

51

Granite

7.7

1.0

1,556

45

52

Sanders

9.2

0.0

4,344

82

53

Glacier

9.4

0.3

4,936

-54

54

Lincoln

11.0

0.4

6,891

-6

55

Mineral

11.2

1.8

1,465

-47

56

Big Horn

12.1

-1.6

4,702

-81

****** RESERVATION UNEMPLOYMENT RATES ******

The unemployment rate and ranking for each of Montana’s seven reservations is provided below. Reservation unemployment rates and employment levels are not seasonally adjusted and should be compared to the unadjusted statewide unemployment rate of 5.0%. Reservation areas overlap with county areas, meaning that unemployed individuals living on a reservation will be included in both the reservation and county totals.